Tag Archives: human

About a month ago I spoke at the Social Capital Conference in Ottawa around some of the play…oh ummm…I mean really serious work that I do. I was basically given a carte-blanche to talk about anything I wanted. I was thrilled when this opportunity came up because for far to long have I been working with clients who tell me “we do social media”. First of all I really dislike that wording. I dislike it because to me it brings up connotations that this is just another thing that people DO, that people check off on their lists to get business rather than immersing themselves in this technological marvel that is social media bringing us closer to way more customers than in any other time in the history of business. Social media is a veritable wasteland of all kinds of “HBD’s” (if you don’t know what this means write me a note and I will indeed share my biggest rant with you about this), “Like me for access to this coupon” , and “RT this awesome video pls”. I mean when I see these things and then hear companies say they are “doing” social media I just want to vomit. And I don’t just mean the little baby dribble version but rather the full on exorcist, head twisting, blasting across the room type (good enough visual for you?) “Doing” social media implies that it is just another task and that when the posts have been uploaded and updated then they are done for that day. Secondly to all those who tell me they don’t have TIME to “do” social media I say scream BULLSHIT. This one I actually cannot believe because for most of the groups I work with they have hired me because they are having some kind of challenge and it usually translates into not enough customers so obviously how they are spending time is not working so why not be open to change and try a new approach? Social media, if done properly is all about time. I often encourage companies to spend a whole day just browsing the internet. Read, watch, write, sit and follow a twitter stream for an entire hour (blasphemous!) . These are all little things that you can be doing to learn just a little bit more about how to engage. “But Shawn that is such a waste of time” I hear you saying. Is it? I mean really isn’t learning just a little bit more about your customers and your competitors all part of the world we live in now? If you can’t let yourself take a few hours or heaven for bid a whole day to explore then there is more wrong with your business than you think. I once had a business that told me they couldn’t have meetings because they couldn’t take 1 hour to close the store front. I forced it and in that 1 hour so many challenges were examined and resolved. 1 hour of dedicated time to understanding each other and some of the challenges the store was too busy to deal with on a regular basis were solved. Who knew? The store reopened and lo-and-behold it began to run so much smoother.

Perhaps one of the best readings I have come across when it comes to social media comes from a recently fresh pressed wordpress post from Tara Hunt in her piece: The Secret to Great Social Content

When I saw the title I wanted to scream. There is no fucking SECRET. Believe me for so many years people have been coming up with formulas and telling people to post “x” number of times to increase their followings and drive more traffic. Post a certain number of pictures and you will be way more successful. More successful at what I’m not sure. I think the goal is to have 1 million followers. Does that mean you are successful? Do those numbers translate into relationships with customers? Are you selling more of your shit? Are you helping the world in anyway? I guess that is all up to you to decide. But that is not really what Tara was getting at in her post. Her big secret was to go with your gut. In particular my favourite line was:

“If you start using rules you stop using your instinct”

In Tara’s post she writes out 5 little tips (take note, NOT rules) that I completely agree with and they are as follows:

put down the content calendar and just hang out with your customers (AND your competitors’ customers) more. Not with a clipboard taking notes or with the desire to convince anyone to try your product. JUST CHILL and absorb.

stop thinking of your audience as content consumers. They do not live for your ‘sharables’. They aren’t sitting with index fingers hovering over the like button, eagerly awaiting your next witty post. They have lives and you are a small, teensy part of their daily thoughts. If they don’t think of anything else other than you, you have a bigger problem on your hands.

go to a movie, read a book, subscribe to blogs, skim through magazines — outside of your industry and outside of your comfort area. Embrace diversity and different points of view. Have conversations with people you would never dream of having conversations with.

think really hard about what you are truly passionate about. What makes you laugh, cry, sing…what inspires you. What are you drawn to? Think about this honestly outside of the context of your business. Do more of that. Learn how to trust your instincts again and when they lead you astray…

don’t fret. Some things will work and some things won’t. But keep going and learning from those mistakes. Take criticism with a grain of salt and start to learn what is constructive and what is not. Being experimental and open doesn’t mean you have to bend with every whim either. You’ll learn over time and hone that instinct beautifully.

So where does all of this lead us? For me social media is about just being social. It is about putting yourself out there in a way that you want to and about finding those that exist out there that you are compatible with and that you can help in some little way. I mean almost every company now has the media part down pat that is for sure. They are “on” facebook and they are “on” twitter and they are “on” every and all other mediums but when you look at their posts about their latest products, sales, or their last post was in 2010 it really screams that they are just “on” and nothing more. They are not actually being social, they are not actually engaging in these amazing platforms that help us make deeper, wider, and way more amazing connections than we ever could have before.

Being “on” social media but never updating it is like opening your store front and then going to the back room and never coming out to talk to customers.

So to that I say get the hell out of the back room and go talk to your customers. Don’t think that being “on” social media is good enough. You actually have to be social in order for you to grow. And believe me the more social you are and the more time you put in the more relationships you will build. You make some really interesting connections and who knows you may even come to know, appreciate, and love some of those amazing people we call customers. Holy shit you might even care and be able to make some money-wow what a world we live in.

My message at the conference, with the clients I work with, and right now just BE A HUMAN!

Today I experienced 2, what some may say minor, but I saw horrendous bouts of crappy customer service. I’m here to write the stories so others don’t fall into these holes.

The first one came via an email from a Customer and Community Rep (Known from now on as rep.). This rep. (hmmm…careful who you choose to put in those positions) started their email by incorrectly spelling my name wrong in the reply email. I’m always flabbergasted at this as the email I just sent you had my name written all over it and you still couldn’t find a way to spell it right? Maybe this is just me being a baby after growing up never having anything with my name spelled correctly on it. Maybe I should be blaming my parents? Bah! (or my older brother since my parents didn’t even care to name me, wow so many scars) Anyhow the email didn’t get any better from there. It was a grand total of 1 line. It was perhaps one of the coldest emails I have ever gotten and it basically told me that this person had no time to meet, fair enough. However then this rep. proceeded to ask why I was emailing and what it was I wanted from them (spend some time just read a little bit it was in the original email). I take it this person is very busy and I can get that but what I really want from a GREAT community and customer rep. is someone who pretends to be a human. My email, as they all are was rather jovial and was looking to illicit some kind of fun loving response. The basics of the project which I outlined was that we wanted to have some fun with their company and support a really great cause. What I can never understand and no one will ever convince me is that they are too busy for a phone call. I don’t give a shit how big you’re company is or how grand your position is. Never stop being a damn human being. When someone reaches out to have a bit of fun why not take a few minutes to listen? Like I said this is a bit of a rant and I know some of you will say that maybe this rep. is just too busy and that this rep. shouldn’t waste their time. I fully disagree you’re a community rep. for goodness sakes and my connection came through a mutual friend and a mutual partner. Trust in others and make the time. Learn to laugh and learn to love and be open and you might just get the rewards you deserve. I say all of this because this rep. just lost their business a few thousand dollars ($$$$). Just because this rep. couldn’t pretend to be a human engaging another human for a few seconds.

Ok round two happened a later. I really love a good game of hide and go seek but this was fucking ridiculous. Every time I came around the corner and saw a customer service rep unless I went sprinting down the aisle they vanished. All this hunting and chasing in a store that delivers commissions. Hmm…but I didn’t look like I had money to buy anything, “what a time waster” is what I’m sure most of the customer rep folk thought to themselves. Then when I finally caught one in a corner I was pretty much pushed on to one of their unsuspecting associates as this little nerd was “going on break”. This push and shove continued between associates as more important looking people entered the store. So I left that store with the few hundred dollars I had in my pocket. Again the main lesson here is just pretend to be a human. You never really know who you might meet or what they might be able to do for you.

Bottom line don’t be a customer service jerk!

Just follow these 2 steps and you should be great at pretending to be a human.

1. Smile at everyone and look them in the eyes

2. Listen – and I mean take some time, clear your head and really listen to what that person has to say. You know kinda like you care or something.